A closer look

Taking a closer look is a new item that aims to reveal technical, material, and subtle humorous details and/or provocative notes in the murals of Almada Negreiros.

Looking closely at a mural painting allows us to appreciate, in a more intimate way, the artist’s technique and perceive particularities, or details, barely perceptible when observed from a distance. This situation is particularly evident in the painting of the planisphere (or mapa-mundi) painted by Almada Negreiros, in 1939, located in the reception hall of the former headquarters of Diário de Notícias journal in Lisbon (currently DN Building). In this painting, about 13x4m in size, Almada Negreiros gave free rein to the symbolic representation of fauna, flora, history, and culture following the medieval cartography, but with notes of contemporaneity and humour, which were so characteristic to him.

An example of this is Botticelli's Venus, sheltering from the Arctic cold (on the left) or a seaplane reaching the coasts of Brazil, in a possible allusion to the first Atlantic crossing between Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro by Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral in 1922 (on the right). All representations are mostly just a few centimetres long, made with diluted brushstrokes of strong chromaticism accentuated with dots of light. The bright red contours and shadows guarantee a greater perception at a distance. Discover these and other details at here.
 

To read

Open access articles on Almada Negreiros' two working palettes, discovered in the DN building and the first diagnosis of the murals at the Gare Maritima de Alcântara.

Milene Gil, Mafalda Costa, Mila Cvetkovic, Carlo Bottaini, Ana Margarida Cardoso, Ana Manhita, Cristina Barrocas Dias, António Candeias, ‘Unveiling the Mural painting art of Almada Negreiros at the Maritime stations of Alcântara (Lisbon): diagnosis research of the paint layers as a guide for its future conservation’, Ge-Conservación, Vol20 (2021). DOI: https://doi.org/10.37558/gec.v20i1

Milene Gil, Mafalda Costa, Ana Margarida Cardoso, Sara Valadas, Yigit Helvaci, Sriradha Bhattacharya, Patricia Moita, António Candeias. On the Two Working Palettes of Almada Negreiros at DN Building in Lisbon (1939–1940): First Analytical Approach and Insight on the Use of Cd Based Pigments. Heritage 2021, 4, 4578-4595. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4040252

To participate

Let’s meet in Évora, Portugal?

CONFERÊNCIA  COLOURS2022: Bridging Science with Art  http://www.hercules.uevora.pt/Colours2022/

Third edition dedicated to modern and contemporary art, with a focus on murals and street art.

14 to 16 September 2022 at the University of Évora.

Abstracts submission deadline at 28th of February.
 

To see

See the murals, Meet the artist

Cycle of 6 + 3 open lectures dedicated to the artistic life of Almada and mural painting masterpieces. One per month at 5pm (GMT) via zoom.

Lecture 8, 18 February 2022
A Brazilian Cultural Legacy: Candido Portinari's paintings at Gustavo Capanema Palace, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Claudia Nunes
Zoom:  https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/84085992130?pwd=NXdpdVRDRUVlcjJjWjN4L3h3dmIwdz09

Going to backstage

Rubric showing the ongoing scientific research and participants.

Hand’s on workshop in Heritage Science, July 2021
More photos here.
 

News published in the website

• Veja os murais, conheça o artista: Palestra 7.
• Veja os murais, conheça o artista: Palestra 6.
• Veja os murais, conheça o artista: Palestra 5.
• First call for abstracts COLOURS2022.
• Conhecer o projeto Almada com Milene Gi.
• SOS de estabilização de camadas cromáticas na Gare Marítima de Alcântara.
• Oportunidades_Bolsa de investigação.